Global Stock Market Capitalization Rises 9.56% in 2012

SEOUL, KOREA – The world’s stock market capitalization marked about a 10-percent growth compared to a year ago.The Korea Stock Exchange announced on December 31 that the world’s stock market value amounted to $52.7 trillion as of end-November 2012, up 9.56 percent from $48.1 trillion a year ago.

This figure is equivalent to about 87 percent of the $60.7 trillion set in 2007 when the world’s stock market cap hit a record high.

In most stock markets worldwide, including those in the United States, Asia-Pacific, and Europe (including Africa and the Middle East), market capitalization marked a positive year-to-year growth. The market capitalization of the U.S. stock market grew by 13.9 percent over the past one year, while those of the Asia-Pacific stock markets by 8.93 percent and the European stock markets by 3.31 percent, respectively.

The share of Asia-Pacific region in the world’s stock market capitalization is estimated at 30.32 percent, higher than that for Europe for four straight years. The share of Europe stood at 26.91 percent, down 3.59 percentage points from the end of 2007.